Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-19
BOTTOM OF THE SEA.
DIVERS WORK UPON THE CARGO
OF THE STEAMSHIP OREGON.

a Badly Shattered vessel-Dificuit Con-
ditions for Work-How Men Toll at
Twenty Fatlioms Deep and Are Some
times ParaIyzed.
Mr.. /. J. N. Merritt, Jr., sou of Capt.
Merritt Of the Coast Wrecking company,
by whom the salvage was effected, mar
rating the story of the divers work on
the Oregon, the other day, said:
1.-The Oregon lay in twenty fathoms of
water. There is u popular idea that the
agitation of the sea by storms is quite a
shallow effect. But ii doesn't take much
of a storm TO make itself felt sixty feet
down, where the Oregon lay, as our
iiyerS were fully satisfied. And. though
il was possible TO see dimly outside the
hull, the darkness in the hold was per-
feet, SO that the difficulties under which
the divers worked were great Never
theless. it did not take them long TO find
out that the Oregon was a very badly
shattered vessel.
The salvage OF the cargo OF the Oregon
was one of the greatest pieces Of work OF
the kind ever performed not 50 much on
account Of the depth of the water as be-
cause OF the locality and the steady con
tinuance OF the work. often under e1-
ceedingly adverse circumstances. Lots
of divers go down twenty fathoms for a
few minutes at a time on some quick job.
but STAYING down at that depth and
working is quite a different m.,tter.
Some of our divers stayed down forty
five and even sixty minutes, but the
usual time was from thirty TO forty min
utes. AS q rule, we did not allow them
to stay down as long as they wished to
after they had become Il fcustomed to the
work, for there was always the danger
that if a man was too long subjected TO
the pressure of sixty to six.y-two pounds
to the square inch-that had to be main
tanned at that depth-it might break him
all up for several days.
CASES OF PARALYSIS.
GLOW break him ups' Well, it seemed
to paralyze them. Sometimes a man
would come up with no control at all of
an arm or a leg 1t would hang as if
dead. In a few days il would come all
right, but the sensation, while il lasted,
must have been rather disquieting.
Then, whe there was not actual paraly-
sis of one or more limbs there Were apt
to be sharp pains and aches. Some of
the men who started in diving there could
not stand the work and had to give il
up, but those who stuck 20 il seemed to
grow accustomed TO it, and did not COM
plain at all after little while. But they
were an exceptionally good lot of men,
and we took the best possible care of
them. When q man would come up and
his helmet and armor were taken off,
he would be thoroughly rubbed all over,
walked up and down the deck for a little
biz, get good drink of brandy, and
then be laid down TO sleep for an hour,
when he would be Quite fresh and ready
TO 90 down again. Two would GO down
while one was resting.
eve had altogether fourteen divers
when we started, but half dozen Of
them could not stanf the work, and our
average force of divers was eight. They
worked in two separate and entirely dis
tinct expeditions, each Of which had q
schooner to operate from, and there was
also steamer to take care OF and tend
them. When the weather was so Vio-
lent that II was impossible to work on
the wreck the steamer would tow the
schooners into Fire Island inlet to wait
for more propitiouS skies. But the dis
lance was SO great, involving SO much
loss of time in going to and fro, that we
only left our ground when the necessity
was most imperative. Often we took in
cargo when the schooners were pitching
and rolling with such violence in the
angry waves that they were taking water
over their rails on alternate sides at
every roll. Perhaps we even took some
desperate chances, but we had to do so
or suffer interminable delays As it was,
we have had TO lose as much as three
weeks at a stretch, waiting for change
in the weather